US unveils new strategy to combat terrorism

WASHINGTON - The United States will push ahead with more targeted drone strikes and special operations raids and fewer costly land battles like Iraq and Afghanistan in the continuing war against al-Qaida, according to a new national counterterrorism strategy unveiled on Wednesday.

The doctrine, two years in the making, comes in the wake of the successful special operations raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in May, and a week after President Barack Obama's announcement that US troops will begin leaving Afghanistan this month.

The document is a purposeful departure from the Bush administration's global war on terror. The worldwide hunt for terrorists that began after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks focused first on Afghanistan, and small numbers of al-Qaida are still active there.